Surprised, I’d offered what I could.
Now, he finished by saying, “And Vartok’s started this clan council in my absence, and I’m uncertain what to do about it.”
I frowned in thought. “Why did he do it?”
Kragorn sighed and dropped his hands to my shoulders as he leaned back against the stone wall of the pool.
“Because he hates leadership. I told ye our father died seven years ago, aye?”
“Aye.” Sensing he was done with my hair, I ducked under the surface of the hot spring, rubbing the suds from my hair. I emerged a few moments later and shoved the sodden strands from my face.
“You have been chief since then. But Vartok is your twin brother?”
“Aye, and ‘tis a good thing I was born first, because he doesnae want aught beyond his smithy and female company. Although I suppose now that he’s Mated to Myra, that will change. Hold on, Lillian, ye have…” His words trailed off, but I felt him gently brush something from my forehead. “There.”
When I again blinked water from my eyes, ‘twas to see him smiling at me.
“Vartok didnae want to lead the clan in my absence, so he brought together some of the elders, and some of the warriors and their wives, and all decisions have been made by committee.”
My brows rose.
“Warriors’wives?”
Women were allowed a say in running the village?
“Of course.” He huffed and began to rub the shampoo in his own hair, his elbows nearly knocking into my head with their ferocity. “And I’ve met with the council—och, ye ken this, ye were there each time. They have good insights, and I’d be foolish to disband them?—”
“Then do not,” I told him, moving to his side. “Here, duck down, I will wash your head.”
Kragorn sent me a lopsided grin. “Dinnae fash, I brought ye here to care forye, Lillian.” He ducked quickly beneath the water and rinsed the suds from his hair before I could ask what he meant—or do more than wonder at the warm pulse that had settled between my thighs.
When he emerged, he took my hand and tugged me toward the larger pool, the covered one.
“Ye dinnae think I should disband the council?”
Did he really care for my opinion? Even with the evidence of the last sennight and his conversation with me now, I could scarcely wrap my head around it. No one had ever asked for my opinion for aught than how to scrub a floor or how to care for a minor wound. My value lay in notbeing late to pour my father’s ale, not in helping him plan clan policy.
My head spun, but I inhaled deeply to steady myself. Kragorn remained silent, his gaze quizzical as he awaited my reply. I considered carefully.
“If you trust them, why not keep their advice? Mayhap you, as chief, could have the final decision. But I was always taught we must respect our elders’ experience, and it sounds as if they are a varied enough group?—”
My words were swallowed in a gasp as Kragorn grabbed my waist, lifting me just as the pool became too deep for me to touch the bottom. I grasped his forearms, kicking my good foot to help keep myself afloat, although I needn’t have bothered. He moved to the center of the protected pool, and I realized how very private such a place was, despite being out in nature.
“Ye are right,dkaar,” he murmured. When he smiled, one corner of his mouth was pulled by one of his healing scars, but I loved seeing it all the same. “Remind me to always listen to ye.”
“I—what?” I stammered, my hands slipping from his forearms in surprise.
“Ye’re brilliant, and I have just resolved to run all my problems past ye in the future. I cannae do this without ye.”
My jaw was slack in surprise as I stared up at him.Do what? I wanted to ask, but I was mesmerized by the way his good eye flared green. Verna had told me ‘twas a sign of an intense passion in orc males, and I wondered what Kragorn was thinking in that moment.
I reached up to brush my fingertips across his cheek, and I heard his swift inhale. Then I was flying through the air—or so it felt. My breasts slammed against his chest, his arms went around my back, and his mouth captured mine.
Aye. Aye!
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed him back with as much abandon as I could manage. I floated in the water, clinging to him, his cock pressing against my thighs, and my nipples pebbling despite the warmth between us, as his tongue plundered my mouth.
His fingers tugged at my hair and I tipped my head back obligingly, allowing his mouth to move across my jaw and down my throat. Between his kisses, he murmured to me, words I couldn’t understand, but loved, nonetheless.
